Fresh diesel and petrol cars banned from UK roads by 2040, as Government unveils fresh pollution tax on drivers in busiest areas
Fresh diesel and petrol cars banned from UK roads by 2040, as Government unveils fresh pollution tax on drivers in busiest areas
© Photo by Ali Atmaca/Anadolu Agency/Getty Pics Various Renault cars are seen at a car park in Bursa, Turkey on July 24, two thousand seventeen Diesel drivers on congested roads in towns and cities across the UK face fresh pollution taxes under Government plans which will ultimately herald the end of the traditional car.
Ministers have identified eighty one major roads in seventeen towns and cities where urgent act is required because they are in breach of EU emissions standards, putting people’s health at risk.
The Government will also commit to banning the sale of all fresh diesel and petrol cars by two thousand forty in a bid to encourage people to switch to electrical and hybrid vehicles.
The air quality strategy urges local authorities to very first attempt to reduce emissions by retrofitting the most polluting diesel vehicles, switching road layouts and removing speed humps.
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However it concedes that as a last resort councils will be permitted to impose rough confinements on the most polluting diesel vehicles as soon as two thousand twenty to bring down the levels of harmful nitrogen dioxide emissions.
The strategy stops brief of meeting the requests of motoring groups for a diesel scrappage scheme, under which diesel drivers would receive compensation for trading in their polluting vehicles.
It instead says that the Government will hold a consultation on a “possible” scrappage scheme in the autumn, which sources have suggested is likely to be “very, very targeted”.
The Government will also commit to banning the sale of all fresh diesel and petrol cars by two thousand forty in a bid to encourage people to switch to electrified and hybrid vehicles.
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Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, is expected to warn local authorities against “unfairly penalising” drivers by imposing pollution taxes and other limitations on diesel drivers.
The Government is worried that motorists were encouraged to buy diesel vehicles under Labour more than a decade ago because of concerns at the time over carbon emissions.
Mr Gove has significantly stripped back previous plans which could have seen limitations on diesel cars across entire city and town centres. He instead wants councils to concentrate on reducing emissions on specific roads.
A fresh analysis found that forty eight of the most polluted roads are in London. Others have been identified in Birmingham, Derby, Leeds, Nottingham, Southampton, Bristol, Bolton, Manchester, Bury, Coventry, Newcastle, Sheffield, Belfast, Cardiff and Middlesborough.
The pollution hotspots are predominantly on A-roads but also include opens up of two motorways – the M4 near London and the M32 in Bristol.
The strategy will insist that any limitations on diesel cars must be “time limited” and lifted as soon as air pollution levels fall within legal boundaries.
A Government spokesman said: “Our plan to deal with dirty diesels will help councils clean up emissions hotspots – often a single road – through common sense measures which do not unfairly penalise ordinary working people.
“Diesel drivers are not to blame and to help them switch to cleaner vehicles the government will consult on a targeted scrappage scheme – one of a number of measures to support motorists affected by local plans.
”Overall we are investing £3bn to tackle the effects of roadside pollution and supporting greener transport initiatives.”
The Government has been coerced to come up with tougher measures to target diesel drivers after losing a case against environmental campaigners ClientEarth over breaches of EU emissions standards.
Instead of pollution taxes, councils will be urged to improve the flow of traffic with measures such as removing speed humps to prevent cars repeatedly slowing down and speeding up, which almost doubles the amount of harmful gasses they pump out.
Other options which are expected to be put forward include better sequencing of traffic lights to ensure that drivers will keep arriving at green lights rather than crimson ones if they drive within the speed limit.
Ministers will provide an extra £255million to help councils implement their plans, which could come into force as soon as 2020.
The number of diesel vehicles on Britain’s roads has risen from Three.Two million in two thousand to more than ten million today after the Labour Government slashed fuel duty on diesel cars in a drive to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
It has since emerged that diesel vehicles emit harmful nitrogen dioxide, which can raise the risk of strokes, heart attacks and asthma attacks.
Senior Labour figures including Master David King, who served as Tony Blair’s chief scientific adviser, have since admitted that they were “wrong” to promote diesel cars.
Other proposals are expected to include “real driving emissions” vehicle tests in the wake of the Volkswagen emission scandal and encouraging the public sector to buy cleaner vehicles.
Ministers also want to crackdown on parents who leave their engine running during the school run. Councils have introduced on the spot fines of up to £80 in a bid to crackdown on the practice.